William Saliba says starting at the World Cup for France is a dream for him as he continues his fine form for Premier League leaders Arsenal.
The center-back has finally made it into the Arsenal first team three years after his £25 million move from St. Etienne. He has started each of Arsenal’s seven Premier League games so far this season, and he has also scored twice, most recently in their 3-0 victory against Brentford on Super Sunday.
Having already received five caps from Didier Deschamps, Saliba has been called up to the France team for the Nations League games against Austria and Denmark this month. The 21-year-old is aiming for a starting position when the World Cup gets off in November.
“Playing for my nation in the World Cup is a dream of mine, and I wish to be selected for the World Cup team.”
Thomas Frank, the manager of Brentford, has supported Saliba to start as a defender for France after seeing him score against his team over the weekend.
At center-back for France, Saliba faces competition from Raphael Varane of Manchester United, Jules Kounde of Barcelona, Dayot Upamecano of Bayern Munich, and uncapped Benoit Badiashile of Monaco.
Recently, Les Bleus have also called up players like Clement Lenglet, Kurt Zouma, Presnel Kimpembe, and Ibrahima Konate.
Analysis: 'Colossus' Saliba typifies Arsenal transformation
William Saliba was hundreds of miles away from the scene of Arsenal’s humiliating 2-0 loss to Brentford last season, both geographically and maybe metaphorically speaking. But he’s here right now. On Sunday at the Gtech Community Stadium, he was essentially impossible to miss.
The Frenchman, who has been excellent all season after spending the previous campaign on loan with Marseille, put on perhaps his greatest performance to date to help Arsenal record a 3-0 victory that highlighted their improvement over the previous 12 months.
With a soaring header from Bukayo Saka’s corner that bounced against the inside of the post and across the goal line, he demonstrated his aerial danger from set-piece situations and scored his second goal of the season after a spectacular finish against Bournemouth.
The “ugly” things, as Mikel Arteta later characterized them, were what made the rest of what he achieved, and everything else, stand out. In this match last year, Ivan Toney was so shaken up that he quit Arsenal. This time, Saliba had control over him right away.
The 21-year-old was a behemoth, winning duels, putting an end to danger, and making sure that a team who scored five goals in their previous home game could only generate two shots on goal this time.
Even Brentford manager Thomas Frank expressed his admiration for the center-work back at the post-game news conference. He stated, “He’ll play for France in the starting lineup and that’s a good international squad.”
Saliba enjoyed his physical confrontation with Toney, and he was as effective when he was in possession of the ball. He maintained cool in the face of Brentford’s pressure, occasionally slaloming away from tackles in the middle of his own half before launching an attack for Arsenal.
Not just because of his presence has Arsenal changed. The effect of Gabriel Jesus has been comparable, and Fabio Vieira, another summer signing, gave Sunday’s audience a preview of his quality. But Saliba, Arsenal’s new behemoth, is the one who best demonstrates the depth of the development.
